The latest release from American singer-songwriter Rusty Gear, taken from his album of Americana tracks, is Check in Check Out Blues, featuring Lucy Cantley on violin and Camille Rae on vocals, from emerging US country act Calamity Jane.
Check in Check Out Blues features many of the typical qualities of a mid-paced country and southern rock track, as well as a lyric that ventures into social commentary, the narrative outlining, or signposting, some quite troubling aspects of a woman’s life.
The sound is a mix of proficiently rendered blues-laced guitar, a strident vocal and tasteful add-on passages of slick violin-playing. Rusty leads a collaboration of musicians to create and record country, blues, and southern rock music and Check in Check Out Blues adheres to that genre.
Check in Check Out Blues is an optimistic- sounding take on a somewhat dubious domestic situation, one that is as cautionary as it is provocative. The track relies on a sense of laid-back warmth, the interplay of Camille Rae’s vocal, Rusty’s guitar skills and Lucy Cantley’s violin accompaniment.
The track also features a line-up of Nashville musicians including, Tony Sarno (guitars). Clayton Ivey (keyboards), David Hood (bass), and Ed Greene (drums). Recorded in Nashville and produced by Tony Sarno and mixed by Leslie Richter, Check In Check Out Blues will no doubt add to Rusty’s previous successes, which include Wondering Why, Tequila Won’t Solve Your Problems, and Won’t Forget (Remix) reaching #1 on Europe’s Hotdisc Top 40 country music chart, and Wondering Why hitting # 51 on Billboard’s Country Breakout Chart in the US.
Rusty’s songs have generated over 600,000 Spotify streams and Check in Check Out Blues will no doubt bump up that tally. The lyric is perhaps the most engaging aspect of the track, although the chorus does incorporate an assuaging melodic hook that works to smooth the edges of the lyric, which when scrutinized, can be viewed as discomforting. Nonetheless, the track does satisfy many of the expectations of Americana flavoured accessible country-rock.
